Re: GPL and other licences

[Stefaan A Eeckels]

On Sat, 11 Feb 2006 02:29:09 +0100
"Alfred M\. Szmidt" <ams@gnu.org> wrote:

I wrote:
>    Alfred, can you please try and maintain proper attributions and
>    follow quoting conventions?
> 
> I'm already doing that.

No you don't. You do not maintain my name, and you do not use customary
quotation marks (>). Your messages are difficult to read, and difficult
to reply to.

>    >    It depends on the license.  The GPL gives an explicity right
>    > for this, some other licenses may not.  If I'm in the legal
>    > possession of GPLed software, maybe because my employer gave me
>    > an CD to use and install that specific program, then I'm also
>    > allowed to redistribute it.
>    > ^^
>    > The _content_on_it_! not the acutual CD.
> 
>    You do not have the right to copy the CD, so how could gain access
>    to the contents?
> 
> Because the employeer gave me explicit access to the CD.  See the
> above sentence.

No, he instructed you, as his agent, to do things with the CD. You are
not accessing that CD as AMS, but as the agent of your principal. You,
as AMS, do not derive any rights from this action. 

>    It is only the owner of the CD who can accept the GPL and acquire
>    the right to make copies and distribute those.
> 
> It is the person who has the GPLed software who can accept the
> license, not the person who owns the CD.

This is wrong. The word "has" must mean "is the owner of the copy" for
any rights to accrue. Simply having it in your grubby little paws gives
you the same rights as the mailman - exactly none.

> For example, I do not own the disk drives on ftp.gnu.org.  According
> to you, since I am not the owner of those disk drivers, I'm not
> allowed to accept the license.  The FSF surely won't sell their
> drivers so that I can get a version of Emacs; and I'm a bit tight on
> cash to actually be bothered buying a CD from the FSF.

The FSF gives you the right to make a lawful copy of the content of
their servers on your computer. If you, as AMS and not as agent of your
employer, make a copy of software on those servers, you own a lawful
copy, and that copy resides on your disk. 

> According to me, since I'm allowed (legally!) to read the content of
> the disk, I'm able to acquire a license for the software.

If you do so as yourself. When you are acting as an agent for your
employer, you are not acting for yourself, and all rights remain with
your principal. That is what the law says. Using Word on your
employer's computer doesn't give _you_ a license (that is, you do not
enter into a business relationship with Microsoft which is what a
license to use Word is). 

Can you now please stop posting, ans start thinking?

Take care,

-- 
Stefaan
-- 
As complexity rises, precise statements lose meaning,
and meaningful statements lose precision. -- Lotfi Zadeh